Wednesday, 16 November 2005

Teachers doing it 'for education', The Australian, 16 November, 2005.

Teachers doing it `for education': [3 All-round Metro Edition]

John Stapleton, Dan Box. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 16 Nov 2005: 8.
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In Victoria, 100 schools closed completely and 1500 others operated on reduced staff levels as 20,000 teachers attended the nation's biggest rally in Melbourne's CBD.
While half the teachers at Ultimo Primary School in inner-Sydney attended the rally, the others remained as a skeleton staff to supervise children.
NSW Opposition Leader Peter Debnam said the decision by 2500 truck drivers and transport workers to block Sydney's M4 motorway yesterday morning was the work of "ratbags".
TEACHERS have denied shortchanging students and parents by attending the national protest, saying the IR reforms could damage education standards.
Many of the nation's 6900 public schools joined the protest, leaving parents to juggle children and work commitments to cope with teachers' morning stop-work meetings.
In Victoria, 100 schools closed completely and 1500 others operated on reduced staff levels as 20,000 teachers attended the nation's biggest rally in Melbourne's CBD.
While half the teachers at Ultimo Primary School in inner-Sydney attended the rally, the others remained as a skeleton staff to supervise children.
Ultimo Primary teacher Melissa Cox said the new IR laws would make our society "even more `have and have not"'.
"It is not just ratbag radicals demonstrating," she said. "It is normal people who want to maintain their way of life."
She said teachers felt their responsibilities to the children very heavily and said they had not been left exposed in any way.
Fellow teacher Vicky O'Reagan said there had been "a long history of intense struggle to enjoy the gains we have made".
"It is unfair for someone to come along and wipe out the struggles we have fought for for generations," she said.
Carpenter Peter Fletcher, whose daughter Charlotte, 7, attends the school, said he supported the teachers' decision to protest.
"I've done 20, 25 years of work already so I'm in the back of it, but my kids have another 15 years before they enter the workforce and I'm really worried about the conditions they will face now."
NSW Parents and Citizens Association president Sharryn Brownlee said she had received no complaints about the teachers' stop-work action.
NSW Opposition Leader Peter Debnam said the decision by 2500 truck drivers and transport workers to block Sydney's M4 motorway yesterday morning was the work of "ratbags".
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Monday, 14 November 2005

A new era of air travel arrives in our skies, The Australian, 14 November, 2005.

A new era of air travel arrives in our skies: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 14 Nov 2005: 7.
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Chief operating officer with Airbus John Leahy said: "Just as the 747 was a game-changing plane for the 20th century, so the A380 is a game-changing plane for the 21st.
"The 747 was a great plane for its day, designed to the technical standards of 1968. You didn't have the new tough and light materials, such as carbon fibre. And you didn't have the new fly-by- wire technology which makes flying (the A380) like flying a simulator on your laptop."
The A380 is due to arrive in Melbourne today at about 12.30pm before returning to Brisbane at about 10am tomorrow, where it will be part of celebrations to mark the 85th birthday of Qantas.

CARRYING kegs of water rather than passengers, the Airbus A380 at present is nothing but a mess of empty decks, exposed wires, pipes and insulation -- a long way from the luxury its owners ultimately intend.
The world's biggest passenger plane arrived in Australia over the weekend on its first long-haul test flight. Everything about it is being closely monitored by computers, test pilots and technicians.
The water acts as ballast to help measure the effect on performance of a full complement of passengers.
Costing $390million, with a seating capacity of 800, the A380 spans the length and width of a football field.
It attracted hundreds of plane spotters when it arrived from Europe, flying from Brisbane to Sydney yesterday morning and making several passes over theHarbour Bridge and Opera House before landing.
The plane stands seven storeys high and weighs 560 tonnes, fully loaded. It is set to revolutionise the economics of air travel to and from Australia.
Test pilot Captain Jacques Rosay described the plane as "incredible". "You fly the aircraft like a light plane, it is very, very easy to fly."
He said the biggest change for the pilots was the interactive nature of the technology, for example, being able to point at objects on the radar screen and then request data.
Chief operating officer with Airbus John Leahy said: "Just as the 747 was a game-changing plane for the 20th century, so the A380 is a game-changing plane for the 21st.
"The 747 was a great plane for its day, designed to the technical standards of 1968. You didn't have the new tough and light materials, such as carbon fibre. And you didn't have the new fly-by- wire technology which makes flying (the A380) like flying a simulator on your laptop."
The A380 can travel 15,000km without refuelling, so Melbourne to Los Angeles non-stop is not a problem.
It is half as noisy as a 747, both inside and out.
The A380 is due to arrive in Melbourne today at about 12.30pm before returning to Brisbane at about 10am tomorrow, where it will be part of celebrations to mark the 85th birthday of Qantas.
Qantas executive general manager John Borghetti said the Qantas fit-out of the planes would provide for just under 500 passengers -- 300 less than capacity -- with the luxury and space not just confined to first and business class seats.
For the first time, lounges will be included in economy class.
The first A380 is due to be delivered to Qantas in April 2007, and will begin with flights between Melbourne and LA. A further 11 will be phased in by 2009.
NSW Minister for Tourism Sandra Nori said the added capacity of the A380 would make it easier, more comfortable and more economical for overseas visitors to travel to Australia.
AIR QUALITY
- .............................. Boeing 747 ....... Airbus A380
Length ..................... 70.7m .............. 73m
Cabin width .............. 6.1m ................ Main deck: 6.6m Upper deck: 5.9m
Wingspan ................. 64.4m .............. 79.8m
Max. takeoff weight ... 412 tonnes ....... 560 tonnes
Fuel capacity ............ 241,000 litres ... 310,000 litres
Range ...................... 14,200km ......... 15,000km
* Airbus A380 Features: improved seats; lounge areas; audio/ video on demand; internet capability; entertainment screens for all passengers

Also published on news.com.au as Air travel's new era arrives.

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Saturday, 12 November 2005

Mufti condemns raids as race-driven, Weekend Australian, 12 November, 2005.

Mufti condemns raids as race-driven: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 12 Nov 2005: 8.
TERRORISING women, frightening children and the elderly, breaking down doors in the middle of the night and pointing guns at civilians was behaviour that ran counter to the best interests of Australia, the spiritual leader of the nation's Muslims, Sheik Taj Din al- Hilali, said yesterday.
Speaking in Arabic and English at Australia's largest mosque, at Lakemba in Sydney's southwest, Sheik Hilali slammed Australia's new terrorism laws and this week's terror raids as racially based and an assault on the country's civilians.
The association singled out Peter Costello, who this week told Muslims wanting to live under Sharia law to leave Australia, for his "unjustified, unacceptable and hatred-instigating statements". The statement urged the Treasurer to be a role model for Australia by advocating harmony and respect for diversity, "the essence of true Islam".

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TERRORISING women, frightening children and the elderly, breaking down doors in the middle of the night and pointing guns at civilians was behaviour that ran counter to the best interests of Australia, the spiritual leader of the nation's Muslims, Sheik Taj Din al- Hilali, said yesterday.
Speaking in Arabic and English at Australia's largest mosque, at Lakemba in Sydney's southwest, Sheik Hilali slammed Australia's new terrorism laws and this week's terror raids as racially based and an assault on the country's civilians.
He said the force used in the raids was "disproportionate, exaggerated" and reminded many Muslim immigrants of the countries they had left, with "dawn raids as in dictatorial countries".
"Breaking down the doors on women, children, elderly and sick people, with rifles aimed at people with lights attached to them, handcuffing people ... These are acts against civilians. Are we living in Australia? This is not manhood or heroism, this is driven by racists around you,"
Sheik Hilali said Muslim women were now sleeping in their traditional headscarves, the hijab, to avoid being violated in raids.
"Is this freedom and democracy?" he asked.
The Mufti of Australia expressed concern the raids and the negative publicity might frighten Muslim youth away from the moderating influence of the mosque, from "receiving knowledge from solace as their parents tell them".
And he offered a troubling warning that the raids could drive "youths back to their deviant lives and to do things in secret that do not help the nation's security".
Shiek Hilali's outburst yesterday came just three days after a series of counter-terrorist arrests across Sydney and Melbourne, when he initially took a far more conciliatory line.
On Tuesday, Sheik Hilali used a radio address to his community to call for patience and more time to gather information about the operation.
But by yesterday his tone had changed.
Sheik Hilali said the laws and security operations against a community that considered itself an integral part of society was not in the best interests of Australia.
"To gain the support of the people and the media, a politician uses force to show himself as a superman or power-man," he said.
"These laws were invented to cure a disease that the country is not infected with.
"The recent raids were actions of prevention, but has not prevention to be built on wisdom, mercy, respect and upholding human rights?"
The Lebanese Muslim Association supported Sheik Hilali's comments yesterday, saying it was sickened by "political and media scavengers" who were abusing the current period of fragility.
The association singled out Peter Costello, who this week told Muslims wanting to live under Sharia law to leave Australia, for his "unjustified, unacceptable and hatred-instigating statements". The statement urged the Treasurer to be a role model for Australia by advocating harmony and respect for diversity, "the essence of true Islam".
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Friday, 11 November 2005

Interstate link as 18th man arrested, The Australian, 11 November, 2005. Additional reporting.

Interstate link as 18th man arrested: [2 All-round First Edition]

Natalie O'Brien, Annabelle McDonald, Additional reporting: John Stapleton, Padraic Murphy. The Australian[Canberra, A.C.T] 11 Nov 2005: 5.
Show highlighting
Acting with a Victorian arrest warrant, NSW police picked up the man in the southwest Sydney suburb of Guildford as part of the joint state and federal police operation.
Miria Mahee, 25, told The Australian she heard a "whooshing, popping sound" from the burning car and heard footsteps running away. Ms Mahee said she looked inside the burnt-out car after calling the police, noticing "garden tools and a container of brown liquid".
Its discovery came after it was revealed in The Australian yesterday that a chemical supply company in southwest Sydney had alerted police to a series of unusual purchases by men of Middle Eastern appearance. Purchases from two auto supply shops and a hardware store in the region were also investigated.
POLICE last night made their 18th arrest in the nation's biggest counter-terrorism operation, charging a 25-year-old Victorian man with being a member of a terrorist organisation.
Acting with a Victorian arrest warrant, NSW police picked up the man in the southwest Sydney suburb of Guildford as part of the joint state and federal police operation.
He will appear in Sydney Central Local Court this morning, with Victorian police expected to seek his extradition to Melbourne.
Police in both states have argued that there are links between the terror cells exposed by this week's raids in Sydney and Melbourne.
Earlier this week, Victorian authorities said there was a another person they wanted to speak to in relation to the counter-terrorism operation. It is not known if it is the same man.
Police will allege that the terror suspects regularly travelled between Sydney and Melbourne to meet other.
The man arrested last night was a passenger in a car stopped by police on Henson Street, Guildford at 5.40pm. He was arrested "without incident".
One resident heard a siren on the quiet residential street but otherwise the arrest went largely unnoticed.
He will appear in court as seven other men arrested earlier this week in Sydney face allegations that they conspired to make explosives in preparation for a terrorist act. The seven will not be taken from custody for the court appearance; instead they will make their court appearance by video link from the maximum-security Goulburn jail where they are being held.
The arrest came as federal police seized a burnt-out car believed to have been used to transport bomb-making chemicals across western Sydney.
The maroon four-wheel-drive was discovered abandoned and torched in the early hours of yesterday morning in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown.
Residents in Northam Avenue called the fire brigade at 3am, reporting explosive noises coming from the burning vehicle.
Miria Mahee, 25, told The Australian she heard a "whooshing, popping sound" from the burning car and heard footsteps running away. Ms Mahee said she looked inside the burnt-out car after calling the police, noticing "garden tools and a container of brown liquid".
As police forensic and bomb specialists checked over the car before taking it away for further forensic examination, Ms Mahee was asked to briefly evacuate her home. Her aunt Kathleen, also in the house at the time of the incident, said she heard what sounded like small explosions coming from the burning car.
Police closed off suburban roads surrounding the burnt-out car for several hours yesterday while they examined the site.
They removed unidentified materials before wrapping the car in a plastic tarpaulin and loading it on a truck.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma confirmed the car's seizure was part of this week's counter-terrorism investigations and the arrests of alleged terrorists as part of Operation Pendennis. "The vehicle may contain items that could be of interest to authorities as part of their ongoing investigations," he said.
The car is believed to have been used to transport chemicals and is understood to have been under surveillance by police for several weeks. The vehicle will be examined for any DNA evidence.
Its discovery came after it was revealed in The Australian yesterday that a chemical supply company in southwest Sydney had alerted police to a series of unusual purchases by men of Middle Eastern appearance. Purchases from two auto supply shops and a hardware store in the region were also investigated.
Yesterday, Australia's peak chemical industry body said that state and federal governments had failed to implement national controls over chemicals that could pose security threats.
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Police swoop on ninth Sydney terrorism suspect, The Australian, 11 November, 2005

Police swoop on ninth Sydney terrorism suspect: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 11 Nov 2005: 5.

Abstract

He will become the 18th terror suspect picked up since Australian Federal Police, ASIO and state police launched raids across Sydney and Melbourne early on Tuesday.
Miria Mahee, 25, told The Australian she heard a "whooshing, popping sound" from the burning car and heard footsteps running away. Ms Mahee said she looked inside the burnt-out car after calling the police, noticing "garden tools and a container of brown liquid".
Police closed off suburban roads surrounding the burnt-out car for several hours yesterday while they examined the site. They removed various unidentified materials from the car before wrapping it in a large plastic tarpaulin and loading it on the back of a truck. The vehicle's discovery came after it was revealed in The Australian yesterday that a chemical supply company in southwest Sydney had alerted police to a series of unusual purchases by Middle Eastern men.

Full Text

POLICE arrested a ninth Sydney man last night as part of the massive counter-terrorism operation across two states.
The 25-year-old was arrested using a Victorian warrant, with Victorian authorities expected to apply for his extradition to Melbourne when he appears in Sydney's Central Local Court today.
Police have argued that there are links between the terror cells exposed this week in Sydney and Melbourne.
NSW counter-terrorism police stopped a car in Henson Street, in the western Sydney suburb Guildford, at about 5.40pm and arrestedthe male passenger "without incident".
He will become the 18th terror suspect picked up since Australian Federal Police, ASIO and state police launched raids across Sydney and Melbourne early on Tuesday.
The latest arrest came as federal police seized a burnt-out car believed to have been used to transport bomb-making chemicals across western Sydney.
The maroon four-wheel-drive was discovered abandoned and torched in the early hours of yesterday morning in Bankstown, just two streets from the home of terror suspect Mohamed Elomar.
Residents in Northam Avenue called the fire brigade at 3am, reporting explosive noises coming from the burning vehicle.
Miria Mahee, 25, told The Australian she heard a "whooshing, popping sound" from the burning car and heard footsteps running away. Ms Mahee said she looked inside the burnt-out car after calling the police, noticing "garden tools and a container of brown liquid".
As forensic and bomb specialists pored over the car before taking it away for further forensic examination, Ms Mahee was asked to evacuate her home briefly.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma confirmed the car's seizure was part of this week's counter-terrorism investigations and arrests of alleged terrorists, which was known as Operation Pendennis. "The vehicle may contain items that could be of interest to authorities as part of their ongoing investigations," he said.
The car is believed to have been used to transport chemicals and is understood to have been under surveillance by police for several weeks. The vehicle will be examined for any DNA evidence.
Police closed off suburban roads surrounding the burnt-out car for several hours yesterday while they examined the site. They removed various unidentified materials from the car before wrapping it in a large plastic tarpaulin and loading it on the back of a truck. The vehicle's discovery came after it was revealed in The Australian yesterday that a chemical supply company in southwest Sydney had alerted police to a series of unusual purchases by Middle Eastern men.
Yesterday, Australia's peak chemical industry body said state and federal governments had failed to implement national controls over chemicals that could pose security threats.

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